As the year draws to a close, it’s common for magazines to look back and recap the highlights of the months gone by. I’m not going to do that. Instead, let’s travel a little further back—to January 20, 2023. That was the day Alessandro Michele, by then already the former creative director of Gucci (time flies, doesn’t it?), stood before the members of the band Måneskin and united them in holy matrimony. Yes, all four of them: Damiano, Ethan, Victoria, and Thomas.

Regarding the validity of the "pagan rite," as they called it, it’s natural to have your doubts—especially since I highly doubt Alessandro is an ordained priest, despite his fixation on religious symbols. What is certain, however, is that the loyalty and fidelity they vowed didn’t seem to last (or so it appears), with Damiano David’s decision to launch a solo career marking a departure from the band’s rebellious phase of declarations like “rock now or shut up forever” to become a model of monogamy and stylized looks, embodying the quintessential Italian uomo.

Back to the “wedding”: it was held to celebrate what was, and still is, the band’s latest album, “RUSH!” (prompting the very reasonable question of whether there will ever be another). The ceremony took place at Palazzo Brancaccio in Rome and was attended by a host of star-studded guests in addition to Michele: Fedez (Chiara Ferragni’s partner), Machine Gun Kelly, Sabrina Impacciatore, Baz Luhrmann, and the acclaimed Italian director and screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino.

Clad in a black blazer, Alessandro officiated the union “in the name of Apollo, Elvis, and Jimmy Page,” taking his relationship with Måneskin to its peak. Over the years, the designer and the band had strengthened their bond through Gucci—attending shows like Cosmogonie, appearing in Gucci’s 2021 Aria campaign, and donning total Gucci looks at events like the 2022 MTV VMAs.

So yes, in addition to directing some of the world’s most iconic brands, Michele can now add “priest” to his résumé.